Chickens on poultry farms are dying in the intense heat, and meat and egg production has started to fall. If this continues, there may be a shortage of broiler chicken and eggs in the coming days, and egg and chicken prices could rise severely from August to October. The Bangladesh Poultry Association (BPA) has expressed this fear.

The organisation claims that because of heatstroke in the ongoing heatwave, about one lakh chickens are dying across the country every day, with an estimated loss of Tk 20 crore a day. Marginal farmers have lost Tk 200 crore in 10 days. In the 10 to 12 days since Eid, more than 10 lakh broiler, layer and Sonali chickens have died nationwide: 80 per cent broilers and 10 to 15 per cent layers, with Sonali and other chickens making up 5 per cent.

The organisation made these claims in a press release sent to the media on Thursday (25 April).

The release said corporate egg and chicken suppliers and the Tejgaon egg syndicate would exploit the deaths of chickens in the heat to create a shortage. They will start raising prices from June, and egg and chicken prices will rise severely from August to October. To avoid this, the government should protect poultry farmers, the BPA said. It should keep farmers in production by subsidising chicks and poultry feed and keep the supply chain in order so that no shortage arises in the market.

The release said there are now 60,000 to 65,000 marginal chicken farms in the country, of which 20,000 farmers are under contract with corporate groups. If the situation continues a few more days, another 15,000 to 20,000 farms will close. Marginal poultry farmers can never stockpile eggs, but corporate groups and most egg traders in the country, including those at Tejgaon and Kaptan Bazar in Dhaka, have started stockpiling eggs in cold storage and will sell eggs and chicken at higher prices by taking advantage of the situation, the release said.

Daily demand for broiler chicken is 3,500 tonnes, and for Sonali layer chicken 1,200 tonnes, according to the release. In normal times broiler and layer meat production was 5,200 tonnes, more than demand. But with the rise in temperature many farms will close, and production of meat chicken could fall to 4,000 tonnes.

Daily demand for eggs is 4 crore pieces, the release said. In normal times 4.5 crore eggs are produced a day, more than demand. Because of the rising temperature, however, only 3.8 to 3.9 crore eggs are now produced daily, leaving a daily shortfall of 20 lakh eggs.

The release said marginal farmers could get back on their feet if chicks and poultry feed were allowed to be imported, freeing them from the grip of corporate companies and keeping egg and chicken production steady. Caught by the corporate syndicate and the Tejgaon egg and chicken syndicates, farmers never get a fair price for eggs and chicken, and one disaster after another is falling on marginal chicken farmers, it said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.